Creel adapter

ABSTRACT

Described herein is an adapter useful in mounting large diameter spools on small diameter arbors. The adapter generally comprises two small diameter bearings attached to a relatively rigid cage assembly; the bearings being suitable for mounting on the arbors and the cage being suitable for supporting the spools. Other features of the invention appear in the following specification.

United States Patent Inventors William B. Sordoni Forty Fort; Frank S.Westawski, Plains, both of Pa. Appl. No. 65,172 Filed Aug. 19, 1970Patented Jan. 11, 1972 Assignee Sterling Engineering and ManufacturingCompany, a division of Public Service Enterprises of PennsylvaniaWilkes-Barre, Pa.

CREEL ADAPTER '8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 242/130 Int. Cl IB6Sh49/02, D03 j 5/08 Field of Search..242/130139,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,636,696 4/1953 -McBride242/130.1 1,233,064 7/1917 Kretzschmar. 242/130 2,248,716 7/1941 Markle,Jr. 242/46.6 2,437,100 3/1948 Liambach... 242/130.l 2,790,610 4/1957McBride 242/130.l

Primary Examiner- Leonard D. Christian Attorney-Watson Leavenworth &Kelton ABSTRACT: Described herein is an adapter useful in mounting largediameter spools on small diameter arbors. The adapter generallycomprises two small diameter bearings attached to a relatively rigidcage assembly; the bearings being suitable for mounting on the arborsand the cage being suita- 'ble for supporting the spools. Other featuresof the invention appear in the following specification.

CREEL ADAPTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relatesto means for supporting yarn packages and more particularly to adaptersfor use in the textile industry where yarn spools having relativelylarge central bores must be mounted upon a mechanism provided withrelatively small diameter pins or arbors.

In the textile industry it is conventional for textile manufacturers toreceive yarn wound on tubular spools which are usually cylindrical orconical in configuration-These yarns, as received, will be referred toherein as raw yarns. Prior to forming fabric it is generally necessaryto unwind the raw yarn from the spools so that it may be formed into thewarp or warp yarn, in the process commonly referred to as warping. Warpyarn which, during warping, is wound on the warp beam, is generallycomposed of raw yarns which have been removed from a very large numberof spools, often as many as several hundred. By virtue of the fact thatwarping requires the simultaneous mounting and unwinding of so manyspools, the apparatus employed is rather large and costly. It isimperative, therefore, that the same apparatus be adapted to form warpyarns for many different kinds of fabrics.

Different types of fabrics are composed of different warp yarns anddifferent warp yarns are composed of different raw yarns. Since thereare almost as many spool sizes as there are types of raw yarn thewarping apparatus, in order to be able to form many different warpyarns, must be able to accommodate' spools of many different sizes. Toachieve the requisite versatility without undue expense the creels uponwhich the raw yarn spools are mounted for unwinding are constructed witha plurality of small diameter protruding arbors. The spools, which haverelatively large bores, are mounted on the creel by the use of adapters.The adapters fit over the creel arbors and provide support for thespools.

In recent years there has been a proliferation of different types of rawyarns, particularly as a result of inventions in manmade fibers. Thisproliferation in yarns has been accompanied by similar proliferation inspool sizes. In addition to varying in size, spools also vary inconfiguration; the two most common configurations being cylindrical andconical.

Since warping entails the rapid unwinding of raw yarn from spool,efficient operation requires a close fit between spool and adapter andbetween adapter and creel arbor. Excessive play of the spool oftenresults in the spool coming off the creel and disrupting the warpingoperation. Similarly, the use of an adapter which is too short for thespool mounted on it also tends to allow the spool to work its way offthe creel. On the other hand, an adapter which is too long and thereforeprotrudes beyond the end of the spool has a tendency during warping totangle the yarn and to disrupt the process.

Thus, the necessity for using adapters which are specifically designedfor and suited to the spools being unwound is manifest. Due to the largenumber required, the cost of purchasing them has become a significantexpense. Since each spool requires an adapter, and since each adapter issuitable for use with a very limited number of different size spools theproliferation in spool sizes has resulted in the accumulation byprocessors of a substantial stock of adapters. Hence, not only has thecost of purchasing adapters become a significant expense, but so too hasthe cost of storing them. In addition to being expensive, storagefacilities frequently are not readily available.

The most common adapter of the prior art, and the one which the presentinvention is primarily intended to supplant is fashioned from a solidcylindrical or conical block of wood having a small central boretherein. Attached to the block of this prior art adapter and concentricwith it is a thin, flat circular wooden plate having an outside diametergreater than that of the block and having a central bore of the samediameter as the bore of the block. The outside diameter of the block issuch as to accept the spool for which it was designed, while thediameter of its bore is such as to fit over the creel arbor inconjunction with which it is intended to be employed. The outsidediameter of the plate is greater than the bore diameter of the spoolthereby enabling the plate to act as a stop.

As can readily be seen, the adapter just described is relatively heavy,bulky and expensive to manufacture. In addition, the large number ofsuch adapters which at any given time are not in use occupy considerablestorage facilities.

It is an object of this invention to minimize the disadvantages referredto above by providing an adapter which is inexpensive to produce andwhich, when stored, occupies a much smaller volume than that occupied bythe prior art adapters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The creel adapter of the present inventioncomprises at least two centrally located but axially displaced bearingmembers adapted to fit over a creel arbor, which bearing members areattached to a relatively rigid cage assembly made of heavy gauge wire.The cage assembly preferably contains at least three frame elements,each off which has one support strut. Although it is possible to buildan adapter having only two frame elements it has been found that suchadapters permit an excessive amount of wobble of the spool duringunwinding operations. Each bearing member is preferably in the form ofan annulus having a central opening slightly larger than the externaldiameter of the creel arbor with which the adapter is to be used,whereby the adapter is permitted to rotate on the arbor after mounting.The internal diameter of each bearing, while larger than the externaldiameter of the arbor is not so large as to permit the adapter to wobbleunnecessarily during rotation.

The configuration of the cage should be such as to receive and hold ayarn spool without permitting undue movement, other than rotationalmovement, of the spool relative to the adapter during unwinding. Thus,an adapter designed for use with cylindrical spools should have strutsessentially parallel to the axis; whereas an adapter designed for usewith spools having conical configurations should have struts which arefarther from the axis of the adapter at one end than they are at theother. In order to minimize wobble of the spool the radial displacementof each strut from the axis at any given point should be just slightlyless than the radius of the bore of the spool at the correspondingpoint.

When the relative sizes of bearings to arbor and of cage to spool boreare such as to permit rotation of spool on adapter and of adapter onarbor the spool can be said to have 2 of rotational freedom. When,however, the relative sizes are such that a friction fit occurs betweeneither arbor and adapter or between adapter and spool, the spool hasonly a single degree of rotational freedom.

Another feature of the adapter of the present invention is theincorporation of stops associated with the cage. The stops protrudebeyond the largest geometric solid defined by the cage when the adapteris rotated about its axis. The stops protrude sufficiently to preventthe spool from passing over them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a full understanding of the natureand objects of the invention reference should be had to the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a creel adapter constructed inaccordance with the present invention, and illustrating, in phantomoutline, the creel arbor upon which the adapter is mounted and the rawyarn spool which is mounted on the adapter.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a creeladapter constructed in accordance with the present invention in whichone bearing element is intermediate the ends of the adapter.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a third alternative embodiment of acreel adapter constructed in accordance with the present invention whichis designed to accept conical spools and illustrating stops formed in amanner different from that in which they are formed in the embodimentsof FIGS. 1 and 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The adapter of the presentinvention is designated generally in the FIGS. by the numeral 10.Referring first to FIG. I, the adapter is shown mounted on creel arborll, drawn in phantom. Also shown in phantom is the raw yarn spoolpackage 12.

The adapter of FIG. 1 comprises frame members A, B and C, a lowerbearing 13, and an upper bearing 14 which is axially aligned withbearing 13 to permit insertion of arbor 11. Lower bearings 13 isattached to three radially extending legs a, 15b and 15c, and upperbearing 14 is attached to three radially extending legs 16a, 16b and16c. Legs 15a and 16a are attached to the opposite ends of strut 17a.Similarly, legs 15b and 16b are attached to strut 17b and legs 15c and16c are attached to strut 170. Thus, each frame member is comprised ofone upper and one lower leg and an intervening strut. Although the framemembers are shown in the drawing as being equally spaced angularly aboutthe axis of the adapter, they need not necessarily be so arranged. Forexample, if the angle between members A and B is 60, the included anglesbetween members B and C and between members A and C may be 150.Generally, if there are only three frame members the sum of any twoincluded angles should not be less than 180 and preferably should beabout 240.

Each of the adapters shown in the FIGS. has three frame members. Threeis preferred to two because two usually permits excessive wobble whichis eliminated by the use of three properly located members. Three isalso preferred to four or more because three generally provide adequatesupport and rigidity and are less expensive to manufacture than are fouror more. It should be understood, however, that the present invention isnot intended to be limited to adapters having three frame members.Adapters having four or more frame members are clearly within theinvention. Similarly, adapters having only two frame members are alsowithin the ambit of the present invention, particularly if at least oneof the frame members makes wider than line contact with the spool.Regardless of the number of frame members employed, however, it has beenfound that they should be located in such a manner as to ensure that anyplane drawn through the axis will have at least one member on each sideof it. It has also been found that the angle between adjacent members,especially if there are only three, should preferably not be less than20.

Bearings 13 and 14 have an inside diameter which is slightly larger thanthe outside diameter of arbor 11, thereby permitting passage of thearbor through the bearings with a minimum of clearance. Although theinside diameter of bearings 13 and 14 is not extremely critical, itshould not be so great as to permit excessive wobble of the adapter whenseated on the arbor. Excessive wobble causes excessive wear of the arboras well as of the adapter bearings and, in addition, can lead to shakingof the spool off the adapter or to tension fluctuations of the raw yarnduring warping.

At the other extreme, if the inside diameter of bearings 13 and 14 istoo close to that of the outside diameter of arbor 11, mounting of theadapter on the arbor will result in a friction fit, whereby rotation ofthe adapter on the arbor is inhibited or even prevented. Stated anotherway, a friction fit between arbor and bearings tends to deprive thespool of one of its 2 of rotational freedom. In some automated textileoperations rapid unwinding is accompanied by substantial rotation. Forthose applications it is important that the spools rotate as freely aspossible about their axes. To insure the greatest rotational freedompossible the inside diameter of bearings 13 and 14 should besufficiently large to preclude a tight fit when mounted on arbor 11 butshould not be so large as to allow too much wobble.

In other textile operations 2 of rotational freedom are not required anda friction fit between arbor and bearing can be tolerated. In fact, forsome applications a friction fit may even be desirable. Under thosecircumstances bearing diameters l3 and 14 need be only so large as topermit mounting on arbor 1 l with essentially no clearance.

While the drawings illustrate adapters having two separate flatbearings, it should be understood that the present invention alsocontemplates an adapter having a single tubular bearing. For example asuitable tubular bearing extending from the location of bearing 13 onFIG. 2 to the location of bearings 21 would be entirely suitable.

In the event the creel with which an adapter is to be used is providedwith arbors which are not of constant outside diameter throughout theirlength, the inside diameters of bearings 13 and 14 may be suitablyconstructed to take this factor into account. Such adjustment is wellwithin the competence of those skilled in the art.

In FIG. 1 struts 17a, 17b and 17c are shown as containing detents 18a,18b and 180 respectively. When a spool is mounted on the adapter thedetents act as stops and prevent the spool from passing over them.

During unwinding of the raw yarn, it is desirable that neither the arbornor the adapter protrude substantially beyond the upper end 19 of spool12. Since under normal circumstances the length of the arbor and theheight of the spool are fixed quantities, the minimization orelimination of protrusion is usually accomplished by locating stops 18a,18b and 180 at an axial distance from the upper extremity of the adapterequal to or less than the height of the spool which is to be mounted onit. It as been found, however, that if the distance between the stopsand the top of the adapter is less than about one-half the height of thespool there is a tendency to wobble and pull off. Preferably, the axialdisplacement of the stops from the end of the adapter should exceedtwo-thirds the height of the spool.

Although the adapter of FIG. 1 is shown with a detent in each strut,adapters can be constructed in accordance with the present inventionwhich have fewer than three stops. Generally, the smaller the clearancebetween the struts and spool bore 20 the less there is need for morethan one stop. When there is very little clearance the axis of the spooland the axis of the adapter cannot deviate significantly fromcoincidence and a single stop, for example 18a, will serve the purposeadequately. The greater the clearance, however, the greater will be theneed of additional stops. Use of only one stop when there is arelatively substantial clearance permits canting of the spool whenmounted on the adapter so that the axis of the spool is displacedangularly from the axis of the adapter. The greater the clearance, thegreater will be the angular displacement ofthe axes and the moreobjectionable will be the wobble which results upon rotation.

An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 2. Thisadapter is designed particularly for use with creels having arbors thatare substantially shorter than the length of the spools to be mounted onthem. As explained above, the adapter should preferably extend onto thespool for at least two-thirds of its length. It can readily be seen thatin order to satisfy this condition it may often be necessary for theadapter to exceed substantially the length of the arbor. Under suchcircumstances the adapter illustrated in FIG. 2 is ideal. Since bearing21 is located intermediate the ends of the adapter, the device willaccept an arbor about as short as the distance between the bearingswhile still accommodating spools up to twice as long as the overalllength of the adapter.

In FIG. 2 bearing 21 is shown attached to struts 17a, 17b and throughsupports 22a, 22b and 220 respectively. The supports are also shown asextending beyond the struts whereby, in addition to supporting bearing21, they also serve as stops. Obviously, when the relative lengths ofspool and arbor permit, using supports 22a, 22b and 220 to serve twofunctions is economically advantageous.

The adapter of FIG. 3 was designed to accommodate a conical spool. Itsstruts 23a, 23b and 23c are not parallel to the axis. Rather, each iscloser to the axis at the top of the adapter than it is at the bottom.When the adapter is rotated about its axis the struts define a frustumof a cone having an internal angle essentially the same as that of thespool to be mounted on it.

The adapter of FIG. 3 has stops 24a, 24b and 24c in the form of spokesemanating from bearing 13. When the adapter is rotated, stops 24a, 24band 24c define a circle having a larger outside diameter than thelargest diameter of the conical spool for which theadapter was designed.

The adapter of FIG. 3 also has bearing 25 which is slightly differentfrom the other bearings shown. Bearing 25 is supported by upright 26attached to one of the legs of one of the struts.

Although normally adapters of the present invention have frame membersattached to bearings at both ends, as illustrated in FIG. 1, or attachedto a bearing at one end and to one another at the opposite end, asillustrated in FIG. 2, they may also be left unattached at one end. Forexample, in FIG. 3 the lower bearing assembly provides sufficientrigidity and support for the frame members to allow dispensing withattachment of the upper ends of the frame members to anything.

While the above description of the invention has been inthe environmentof creels used during warping it will be readily apparent that adaptersof the present invention can be used in any setting where relativelylarge bore tubular packages are to be mounted on small diameter arbors.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and,since certain changes may be made in the above article without departingfrom the scope of the invention, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is the novel subjects matter defined in the followingclaims:

1. An adapter for supporting tubular packages on an arbor comprising anessentially rigid cage having at least three frame members locatedaround a central axis and at least one bearing member, said cage beingsecured to at least one bearing member, said bearing members beingaxially located for receiving therethrough a supporting arbor, each ofsaid frame members comprised of at least one leg having an inner end andan outer end and an elongated strut, said inner end being secured to oneof said bearing members and said outer end being secured to said strut,said strut extending generally in an axial direction from said leg.

2. The adapter of claim 1 wherein there are at least two bearing membersand wherein each of said frame members is comprised of a strutintervening a first leg and a second leg, each of said legs having aninner end and an outer end, said inner end of said first leg beingsecured to one of said bearing members, said outer end of said first legbeing secured to said strut, said inner end of said second leg beingsecured to another of said bearing members and said outer end of saidsecond leg being secured to said strut.

3. The adapter of claim 1 wherein each of said frame members iscomprised of a strut intervening a first leg and a second leg, each ofsaid legs having an inner and an outer end, said inner end of said firstleg being secured to one of said bearing members, said outer end of saidfirst leg being secured to said strut, said outer end of said second legbeing secured to said strut and said inner end of said second leg beingsecured to at least one other second leg.

4. The adapter of claim 1 wherein at least one of said struts is locatedon one side and at least one other of said struts is located on theother side of every plane drawn through said axis.

5. The adapter of claim 4 wherein said cage has three frame memberslocated apart.

6. The adapter of claim 1 wherein said cage continues at least one stopwhich projects beyond the surface of the geometrical solid defined byrotating said adapter about its axis.

7. The adapter of claim 6 wherein said cage contains three stops.

8. The adapter of claim 7 where said cage is comprised of three framemembers and wherein each frame member contains a strut having a detenttherein, each of said detents forming one stop.

1. An adapter for supporting tubular packages on an arbor comprising anessentially rigid cage having at least three frame members locatedaround a central axis and at least one bearing member, said cage beingsecured to at least one bearing member, said bearing members beingaxially located for receiving therethrough a supporting arbor, each ofsaid frame members comprised of at least one leg having an inner end andan outer end and an elongated strut, said inner end being secured to oneof said bearing members and said outer end being secured to said strut,said strut extending generally in an axial direction from said leg. 2.The adapter of claim 1 wherein there are at least two bearing membersand wherein each of said frame members is comprised of a strutintervening a first leg and a second leg, each of said legs having aninner end and an outer end, said inner end of said first leg beingsecured to one of said bearing members, said outer end of said first legbeing secured to said strut, said inner end of said second leg beingsecured to another of said bearing members and said outer end of saidsecond leg being secured to said strut.
 3. The adapter of claim 1wherein each of said frame members is comprised of a strut intervening afirst leg and a second leg, each of said legs having an inner and anouter end, said inner end of said first leg being secured to one of saidbearing members, said outer end of said first leg being secured to saidstrut, said outer end of said second leg being secured to said strut andsaid inner end of said second leg being secured to at least one othersecond leg.
 4. The adapter of claim 1 wherein at least one of saidstruts is located on one side and at least one other of said struts islocated on the other side of every plane drawn through said axis.
 5. Theadapter of claim 4 wherein said cage has three frame members located120* apart.
 6. The adapter of claim 1 wherein said cage continues atleast one stop which projects beyond the surface of the geometricalsolid defined by rotating said adapter about its axis.
 7. The adapter ofclaim 6 wherein said cage contains three stops.
 8. The adapter of claim7 where said cage is comprised of three frame members and wherein eachframe member contains a strut having a detent therein, each of saiddetents forming one stop.